Fireworks
by SilverZelenia
Summary: Tony, incorrigible man that he is, is being his normal annoying self and has seemingly forgotten what day it is; Pepper is not at all a happy camper. - Movie Verse - Tony/Pepper - Fluff/Humor Oneshot -


**Fireworks**

**1,097 Words**

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The abnormally sharp clacking of name-brand heels was a tell-tale sign of the red-haired woman's displeasure; or, it would be, if a soul were around to hear it. Her only company in the brightly lit hallway was the ever-present JARVIS, but, highly advanced or not, mechanical butlers were not prone to commenting on displays of human emotion.

Manicured, chip-free nails tapped on her clipboard as the woman waited for the elevator to finish its seemingly endless descent.

When pounding out a rhythm ceased to quell her anxious energy, the fingers drifted up to brush non-existent loose strands of hair back into the expertly made, business-like bun residing at the nape of her neck. JARVIS' voice announced her arrival in his customary detached tone, and the redhead instantly stopped fidgeting.

"Tony?"

Her call received no reply, until the mechanical voice informed her of the infuriating man's location, which was precisely where she had assumed – on the lowest level. She had begun referring to it as the 'War Zone,' having still not quite forgiven him from an incident the week prior when an automaton he had been working on attempted to decapitate her when she entered the workshop-slash-garage-slash-mad-scientist's-labora tory.

"Tony, I know you're down here. JARVIS told me," Her voice sounded exasperated, even to her own ears.

A low muttering about 'reformatting traitorous inventions' sounded from around a corner to her right; she headed towards the sound with a purposeful stride, her lips pursed and hands tightened into a clawed grip on her papers.

The view that greeted her was not at all surprising.

Tony Stark stood with his back to her, idly turning a 3D projection hovering in the air in front of his face. The pristine white tabletop in front of him was littered with a mish-mash of nuts, bolts, screwdrivers, and about a thousand times as many tools and parts the redhead didn't have any clue as to the name of.

"Tony," She said, consternation dripping from her mouth like honey out of cut comb.

"Pepper," The raven-haired man mocked, banishing the projection with a slash of his hand as he turned to face her.

"Tony."

"Happy!" He retorted, coy look on his face as he crossed his arms. "Are we playing the Name Game?"

Irritation cut through Pepper like a whip, and she practically shoved the clipboard in his face as she stepped closer.

"There are about a hundred papers here that have to be signed. _Today_, Tony."

Tony didn't look at her, instead holding one of the parts whose name escaped her up to his eyes for inspection, only answering, with a scowl, after she pushed the clipboard in between the part and his head to interrupt his inspection.

"So you're bringing them to me… why? Just sign them, Pepper, I know you know how to forge my signature."

That said, he turned away from her and began toying with one of the many devices at hand. Pepper shot a dirty, miffed look at his back that went completely unnoticed by the so-called genius.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" She needled, almost daring to cross her fingers – maybe he'd remembered after all.

"Am I?" Tony said absently. "I worked through lunch again, didn't I? Why don't you go get something from that place on 5th, Pepper?"

He went right back to ignoring her after that, assuming that she would comply mindlessly.

She did, of course, but that wasn't the point. Pepper was in an ominous mood that had clearly startled the deli worker who took her order, and Happy hadn't even said hello after seeing the look on her face. Mutinous fantasies played in her mind as she delivered the food to her sort-of-boyfriend – she'd even entertained the thought of spitting in his food in one, spiteful moment on the way back to the Stark Tower, but she'd chickened out of that idea. Knowing Tony, he had some far-fetched machine that could detect the slightest of flaws in his food and then she'd be damned if she _ever _lived it down.

After dropping the sandwich unceremoniously just inside the door of the War Zone, Pepper left soundlessly and successfully ignored the infuriating billionaire until several hours after dark had fallen, when a familiar sound, almost like a miniature jet, surrounded the balcony she was sitting on, and a heavy clunk marked the arrival of something very heavy.

She knew _exactly _what that meant.

"What do you want?" She demanded, not caring at all that her voice sounded very snippy.

The mask-like part of the suit covering Tony's face flipped back, and he beckoned wordlessly, an expectant look on his face. Pepper crossed her arms, stalwartly refusing to budge; Tony rolled his eyes are the mulish look on her face.

"Oh, come on, Pepper, we'll miss it."

"It?"

Silently, he beckoned again, giving a small grin when she gave in and approached him. He gently pushed her shoulder to turn her around, pulling her back against the front of the suit and wrapping his arms around her in an odd form of a hug.

"What - " Pepper started, cutting off with a small squeak as they lifted off the ground; no matter how many times she flew with him, she would never get used to seeing cities flash by underneath her and having absolutely no control over her own body.

"I swear to god I'll haunt your ass if you drop me," She muttered.

"You say that every time, but I haven't dropped you yet, have I?"

"You have, too! That time over Brooklyn - "

"Except for that time."

"'_Except for that time?'_ You can't just brush it off like that – _you _weren't the one that went skydiving without a parachute!"

A full minute of bickering later, they had landed slightly precariously on the top of a nearby tower, looking back at the Stark Tower, whose lights seemed to be slightly dimmer than Pepper was used to seeing. She had just opened her mouth to respond to his last – and most ridiculous – comment when the first pop sounded.

Startled, Pepper flinched, brow furrowing into confusion as she watched the flash of light pinwheeling across the sky above Stark Tower. A succession of other pops sounded as the fireworks shot up into the sky, no doubt off of the roof of the tower they both lived in. The bright flashes of neon light lit up the sky with cheery colors.

Pepper couldn't help the smile that fought its way onto her face – maybe Tony Stark, incorrigible though he may be, had remembered her birthday after all.

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**Fairly short, fluffy Pepper/Tony oneshot for ya. I refuse to call it Pepperony. That's just... Ugh. -_- Anywho, this isn't set anywhere in particular timeframe-wise -use your imagine, peeps! It's not the most original thing ever, but whatever. Also - I have no idea if there is a deli on 5th - that was total BS'ing, right there. I've never been to a city remotely as big as NYC.**


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